Improved machine foe moulding pipe



@uiten gisten identit @fitta WILLIAM'SMITH, or PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.Letters Patent No. 69,854, dated October 15, 1867.

IMPRVED MACHINE I'OR MOULDING PIPE.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCRN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM SMITH, of the city of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Pipe-Moulding Machine; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be afull, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecification, i'n which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improvedmachine for making pipe-moulds,

Figure 2 yis avertie'al section thereof,'and

Figures 3 and 4 show separate views of the devices by which the mouldingflask is held in position.

Like'letters ofvreference in th ditl'erent ligures indicatecorresponding parts. l

Moulds for casting metal pipe have heretofore been made chiefly by hand,by packing the sand in a ilask and around a core, against which isformed the inner `face--ot'the mould. Such process is slow, tedious, andexpensive, particularly vin making moulds in lengths suitable for waterpipe and othru similar uses. The expensiveness of this mode of`manufacture is still further increased by the diilculty of packing thesand uniformly on all sides and in all parts involving the employment ofconsiderable skilled labor for that purpose.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction of devices bywhich to make such moulds, so as to 'obviatealmost wholly th'nceessityot employing labor of any kind, and more particularly in making suchmoulds by a mechanical force acting outward from the axis of theproposed mould. The work of packing the sand and shaping-the mould is bymy invention done wholly by machinery.

To enable others' skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe the construction of the machine and its mode ofoperation. A

A framework, A, of any desirable construction, contains-and supports thedevices employed, the lower end of the frame A to the height of theupper end of the flask B, usually being, for convenience sake, placed ina pit excavated Yin the ground. Running vertically from the upper to thelower cnd of thc frame A,'of such length as may be necessary, is aguiding-shaft, b, grooved at its lower end, and for thc greater part orthe whole of its length, as at a, fig. its upper Aend passing looselythrough a guide, b', and adjusted at any desirable point by a nut,2,'and its lowcr end passing loosely through the axis of a bevelgear-wheel, c, and so keyed thereto by a feather playing in the .groovea as to revolve therewith, and at the same time play up and down, whendesired, through the guide b', as hereinafter to be described. The bevelgear-wheel c is operated by the gear-wheel c', which receives motionfrom a crank, d, or by band or gear-wheel, or other similar knowndevice, at pleasure. At the upper end of the frame A, an'd operating inthe usual way, is a pair of revolving drums,f, which are operated'by acrank, d', or by band or gear-wheels, or arc so geared to thecorresponding devices d at the lower end of the frame A, that by powercommunicated to either they both receive the proper motions. On theshaft b, 'and keyed thereto byA a feather working in the groove a, is ahollow shaft, g, operating as a sleeve, of length equal, or about equal,to'the length of the mould to be made. Its lower end carries a packer,g, of an exterior diameter equal to the linterior diameter of thedesired mould. The upper cndof the packer g is bevalled o to the shapeofthe frustum of n. cone, and its conical face has a series of spiralgrooves, z', running from the top downwards in a direction opposite tothat of the revolving motion to be given to it. At the upper endot thehollow shaft g is a collar, o, by which, while resting on the cross-bart through which the hollow shaft y passes, the latter is raised andlowered by means of pulley-ropes k passing over and ceiling around Vthedrums f.' An adjustable collar, o', is attached to the guiding-shaft b,by which the shaft b is also raised and lowered bin the same manner asis abovedescribed. B is amoulding-ilask, made of any material usuallyemployed for such purposes, and of Aany convenient shape, andin sachaway as to be takenapart or opened for the purJ pose of removing themould when made. Asishown in the drawings, it is of cylindrical shape,is divided longitudinally, and its two halves fastened together byhinges s and eyes and bolt 8". It stands vertically on the floor A, oron a plate, Z, attached thereto, by which, or in other convenient way,its lower end is partially or wholly closed so as to keep the vsand whenthrown into the ilask from falling through. The upper end of the flask BI'usually make of a hopper shape for convenience in filling. I hold theflask I3l steadily and firmly lin position, and so that theguiding-shaft b shall pass along its axis by carefully centering itsylower end inside an annular flange, r, on the plate l, by which or inother convenient way it is prevented from moving laterally, and

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enclosing its upper end between sliding clamps m m, a plan view of whichis given in fig. 3. The inner ends of these clamps m are cut out so asto enclose tightly the flask B when pushed forward, as in figs. 2 and 3,and to release it when slid back, as in fig. 1. These clamps m operatein slides of suitable construction, and if necessary, in order to securetheir direct action, are slotted as at y, and guided by projecting pinsy. At suitable points on either edge of both I attach lugs m m whichplayin inclined grooves n n in the vertical slide n, an inner face viewof which is given in fig. 4. Then by lowering the slide n, (the button:r answering as a handle for that purpose,) the clamps m are made toenclose tightly the flask B, and by raising the slide n, the reverse. Inthis way I provide a convenient and effective device for holding theupper end of the flask B in its place while the mould is being made, andfor releasing it when it is ready to bc removed.

With the devices described, my mode of operation is as follows: 'lhclower end of the guiding-shaft b being keyed in its seat in thegear-wheel e, and the hollow shaft g, with its paker g, being lowered tothe bottom of the flask B, which latter is carefully centred in themanner above set forth, I commence filling the sand for the mould intothe flask B. As soon as a suflicicut quantity is fed in to pack readily,I apply power to the crank d, which is communicated along to the shaftsI1 and g and packer g. The revolution of the packer g in the sand formsthe inner face of the mould, and gives it a smooth surface. Motion isalso applied to the crank d, whereby the hollow shaft g and its packerg' are slowly raised while revolving with the shaft b. The conicalgrooved head of the packer .7 then acts as a wedge in forcing the sand,which is vertically above it, outward toward the walls of the flask B.In this way, that is, by a force pressing outward from the axis of themou-ld, Iform a. pipe-mould of any desirable length, of a smooth innerface, and of the required compactness. As soon as the packer g hascleared the upper end of the flask B, the cross-bar t engages the collaro', and carries the guiding-shaft b upwards till it also is clear of theflask. Then, the sliding clamps m being thrown back, the mould with itsflask is removed to be baked or otherwise prepared for use, or used inthe usual way.

I include in my invention the packer g when its head or upper end hasother shapes than that described. It may be of the shape of the frustumof a cone, as set forth, or of the frustum of a pyramid of any desirablenumber of sides, or it may be spherical, or of other convex, or even ofa concave shape. The grooves z' may extend down the inclined surface,either spin-ally, as described, or vertically, or, when the head is of'pyramidal shape, may be slightly inclined on one or more of its faces.Projecting blades or flukes may take the place of the grooves z', andextend vertically, spirally, or obliqucly down the face or faces of thehead.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. A revolving packer, g, tapering at or toward its upper end, andprovided on the face or faces of such taper with grooves t', orprojecting flukes in lieu thereof, constructed and operatedsubstantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The revolving hollow shaft g carrying a packer, gf, in combinationwith the guiding-shaft b and flask B, arranged and operatingsubstantially as and for the purposes above set forth.

3. The druinsf, ropes t, and cross-bar t, in combination with the collaro', for thc purpose of' elevating the hollow shaft g while the mould isbeing formed, substantially as above set forth.

4:. The gear-wheel c bored in the line of its axis for a seat for theguiding-shaft I), and keyed thereto, in combination with drumsf, and theapparatus hand t to engage the collar, for the purpose of imparting tothe shaft b-revolving and vertical motions, substantially as set forth.

5. The vertically moving slide n, with its converging grooves n', incombination with the laterally moving clamps m having lugs 'm arrangedand operated substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I, the said WILLIAM SMITH, have hereunto set myhand.

WILLIAM SMITH.

Witnesses:

A. S. NlcnoLsoN, G. H. CHRISTY.

